But the subject was not so easily disposed of. Colonel Barré, in

the House of Commons, only three days after Burke introduced his

great motion, declared that Burke's measure did not go far enough;

that Burke did not mean to interfere with the enormous pensions and

overpaid places already in possession; and that he would himself

introduce a motion for a Committee of Accounts, to probe all these

depths of corruption, and to examine into the army extravagances,

which were excessive, and to him unaccountable. Lord North, so far

from opposing this motion, declared his surprise that no one had

thought of introducing it before, and that he was extremely anxious

himself for the reduction of all needless expenditure. The Opposition

expressed their particular satisfaction; but they were rather too

precipitate, for North made haste to get the business into his own

hands; and, on the 2nd of March, was ready with a Bill of his own

framing. The Opposition were lost in astonishment; and Barré denounced

this perfidious conduct in the Minister in terms of just indignation.

The whole Opposition, who found themselves outwitted, declared that the

scheme, so far from being intended to relieve the country, was meant to

shield existing abuses, and they accordingly resisted it to the utmost.

North, however, by his standing majority of myrmidons, carried the Bill

through the House; and Sir Guy Carleton, late Governor of Canada, and

five others, were appointed Commissioners. Thus the whole motion was in

reality shelved.

Two more attempts were made. Mr. Crewe reproduced the Bill to disable

revenue officers from voting at elections, which was at once rejected.

Sir Philip Jennings Clerke then reintroduced his Bill to exclude

contractors from the House of Commons, unless their contracts were

obtained at a public bidding. This was suffered, for appearance' sake,

to pass the House with little opposition; but it was arrested in the

Peers by the law lords, at the head of whom were Mansfield and Thurlow,

and thrown out.

On April 6th a great meeting was held in Westminster, avowedly to add

weight to the county petitions for economical reform, which were now

pouring into the House of Commons. Fox presided, and was supported by

the Dukes of Devonshire and Portland. Government, to throw discredit

on the meeting, affected alarm, and, at the request of the Middlesex

magistrates, who were believed to have been moved by Ministers to make

it, a body of troops was drawn up in the neighbourhood of Westminster

Hall. The indignation of the Opposition was so much excited that Burke,

in the House of Commons, commenting on this attempt to insinuate

evil designs against the friends of reform, denounced the Middlesex

magistrates as creeping vermin--the very "scum of the earth;" and Fox

declared that if soldiers were to be let loose on the constitutional

meetings of the people, then all who went to such meetings must go

armed!

Whilst these indignant sentiments were uttering, the petitions for

economical reform were pouring in from all parts of the country in such

numbers that the table of the House appeared buried under them. The

House went into committee upon the subject, and then Dunning rose and

introduced his famous motion for a resolution in these words:--"That

it is the opinion of this committee that the influence of the Crown

has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished." Dunning

declaimed in language bold and unsparing, and expatiated at great

length on the alarming influence of the Crown, purchased by the lavish

expenditure of the people's money, the people thus being made the

instruments of their own slavery. He censured in stinging terms the

treatment of the economical plans of Burke, the treacherous terms

of approbation with which Ministers had received them, and then had

trodden on them piecemeal till they had left of them the merest

shred. He trusted the nation would still resent this audacious mockery

of reform--this insult to the most distinguished patriots. This was

the way, he contended, that this Administration had again and again

acted--adding ridicule to oppression. Dunning's motion was carried, at

a late hour of the night, by two hundred and thirty-three votes against

two hundred and fifteen.

[Illustration: "NO POPERY" RIOTERS ASSAULTING LORD MANSFIELD. (_See p._

266.)]

Encouraged by this unwonted success (for the words of the speaker,

reminding them of the coming elections, had sunk deep into many

hearts). Dunning immediately moved a second proposition, namely,

that it was competent to that House to examine into and correct any

abuses of the Civil List, as well as of any other branch of the public

revenue. The resolution was carried without a division. Immediately on

the heels of this, Thomas Pitt moved that it was the duty of the House

to redress without delay the grievances enumerated in the petitions

of the people. Lord North implored that they would not proceed any

further that night; but this resolution was also put and carried,

likewise without division. Immediately, though it was past one o'clock

in the morning, Fox moved that all these motions should be reported.

Lord North, in the utmost consternation, declared this procedure was

"violent, arbitrary, and unusual;" but Fox pressed his motion, and it

was carried, like the rest, without a division, and the Report was

brought up.

When the committee on the petitions next met, on the 10th of April,

Dunning, elated with his success, was ready with fresh resolutions.

His first was that it was necessary for the purity and independence

of Parliament that the proper officer should, within ten days of the

meeting of Parliament in each Session, lay before the House an account

of moneys paid out of the Civil List, or out of any part of the public

revenue, to any member of Parliament. This, too, was triumphantly

carried, only to be followed by another from Dunning, that the persons

holding the offices of Treasurer of the Chamber, Treasurer of the

Household, or clerkships of the Green Cloth, with all their deputies,

should be incapable of sitting in the House of Commons. Here the

confounded Ministerial members began to recover their spirit under the

sweeping sentences passed against them, and Dunning only carried this

resolution by a majority of two. Either they thought they had done

enough by their late votes to satisfy their constituents, or Ministers

had found means to render them obedient by menacing losses from their

side, for when Dunning proposed a resolution that his Majesty should be

requested not to dissolve or prorogue Parliament until proper measures

had been taken to secure to the people the benefits prayed for in

their petitions, the motion was rejected by a majority of fifty-one

in a very full House. Fox and Dunning vented their indignation at

this result on the Ministerial phalanx, whom they declared to be the

worst of slaves--slaves sold by themselves into the most contemptible

thraldom. But their castigation was in vain; the troop was brought back

to its primitive compliance, and defeated every future motion from the

Opposition.

Whilst the Opposition was in the dejection of disappointed hopes,

suddenly there arose an explosion of popular opinion against the

Catholics, stimulated and led on by an insane fanatic, which threatened

the most direful consequences, and produced sufficiently frightful

ones--the so-called Gordon Riots.

We have already noted the excitement in Scotland at the Act which was

passed in 1778 for the repeal of some of the severest disabilities of

the Catholics; and this had been greatly increased by the proposal

to extend its operation by a second Act to Scotland. The fanatics of

Scotland were promptly on the alert, and there were dangerous riots in

Edinburgh and Glasgow. But the same unchristian spirit had now spread

to England, and Protestant Associations, as they were called, linked

together by corresponding committees, were established in various

towns, and had elected as their president and Parliamentary head Lord

George Gordon, a brother of the Duke of Gordon. During the spring

of 1780 he presented several petitions from the people of Kent, and

he then conceived his grand idea of a petition long enough to reach

from the Speaker's chair to the centre window at Whitehall, out of

which Charles walked to the scaffold. At a meeting of the Protestant

Association, held towards the end of May in Coachmakers' Hall, in

London, he announced that he would present this petition on the 2nd

of June. Resolutions were passed that the Association and all their

friends must go in procession on that day to present the petition. They

were to assemble in St. George's Fields; every one must have a blue

cockade in his hat, to distinguish him from the enemies of the cause;

and Lord George, to stimulate them, told them that unless the gathering

amounted to twenty thousand he would not present the petition. On the

26th of May he stated in the House of Commons that he should appear

there with the petition at the head of all those who had signed it.

Accordingly, on 2nd of June vast crowds assembled on the appointed

spot, amounting to sixty thousand, or, as many asserted, one hundred

thousand men. This formidable throng was arranged in four battalions,

one consisting entirely of Scotsmen, who received Lord George with

enthusiastic acclamations, and, after a vapouring speech from him,

marched by different ways to Westminster.

The Lords had been summoned to discuss a motion by the Duke of Richmond

on universal suffrage and annual Parliaments, and Lord Mansfield was

to preside in the absence of Lord Chancellor Thurlow. Mansfield had

excited the particular resentment of these zealots by having acquitted

a Catholic priest charged with the crime of celebrating Mass, and

no sooner did he make his appearance than he was assailed with the

fiercest yells and execrations. His carriage windows were dashed in,

his robe was torn, and he escaped finally into the House with his wig

in great disorder, and himself pale and trembling. The Archbishop of

York was an object of the particular fury of these Protestants. They

tore off his lawn sleeves and flung them in his face. The Bishop of

Lincoln, a brother of Lord Thurlow, had his carriage demolished, and

was compelled to seek refuge in a neighbouring house, where he is said

to have made his way in women's clothes over the roof into another

dwelling. The Secretaries of State, Lords Stormont, Townshend, and

Hillsborough, were rudely handled. It was found impossible to proceed

with the Orders of the Day. The peers retired as best they might, one

by one, making their way home on foot, or in hackney coaches, in the

dark, and no one was left in the House except Lord Mansfield and a few

servants.

[Illustration: THE GORDON RIOTS.

FROM THE PAINTING BY SEYMOUR LUCAS, R.A.]

The members of the House of Commons had to run the gauntlet of these

furies much like the Lords. They pulled many of them out of their

carriages, tore their clothes from their backs, and maltreated them,

crying continually, "Repeal the Bill! No Popery! Lord George Gordon!"

The frantic multitude forced their way into the lobby of the House, and

attempted to break into the House itself. They thundered at the doors,

and there was imminent danger of their forcing their way in. Meanwhile,

Lord George Gordon and Alderman Ball were presenting the petition,

and moved that the House should consider it at once in committee. An

amendment was moved, that it should be considered on Tuesday, the 6th;

but there were not means of putting either motion or amendment, for the

mob had possession of the lobby, and the Serjeant-at-Arms declared it

was impossible to clear it. Whilst this confusion lasted, Lord George

Gordon exerted himself to excite the mob to the highest possible pitch.

So long as members were speaking, he continued to go to the top of the

gallery stairs, ever and anon, to drop a word to the crowd below likely

to exasperate them against the particular member speaking. "Burke,

the member for Bristol, is up now," he cried; and then coming again,

"Do you know that Lord North calls you a mob?" This he repeated till

the crowd was worked up to a maddening frenzy, and made so desperate

a battering at the door, that it was momentarily expected they would

burst it open. Several of the members vowed to Lord George, that, if

his rabid friends did violate the sanctity of the House, they would run

him through as the first man stepped over the lintel. These determined

proceedings daunted Lord George. He retired to the eating-room,

and sank quietly into a chair. Meanwhile, Lord North had privately

despatched a messenger for a party of the Guards. Till these could

arrive, some of the more popular members went out, and used their

endeavours to appease the rage of the multitude. Lord Mahon harangued

them from the balcony of a coffee-house, and produced considerable

effect. About nine o'clock, Mr. Addington, a Middlesex magistrate, came

up with a party of Horse Guards. He spoke kindly to the people, and

advised them to disperse quietly, which, the exasperator being absent,

many of them did. Soon after came a party of foot soldiers, who were

drawn up in the Court of Requests, and they soon cleared the lobby. The

members then boldly proceeded with the debate, and, undeterred by the

cries still heard from without, carried the amendment for deferring

the consideration of the petition by a hundred and ninety-four votes,

including the tellers, against only eight. The House then adjourned

until the 6th of June.

Imagining that the crowd would now disperse, the soldiers were

dismissed, and the magistrates returned home. But this was premature.

There were shoals of hot-headed fanatics, who were not willing to

depart without some damage inflicted on the Catholics. One division of

these attacked the Bavarian chapel in Warwick Lane, Golden Square, and

another attacked the Sardinian chapel in Duke Street, Lincoln's Inn

Fields, destroyed their interiors, and set them on fire. The engines

arrived only in time to see a huge bonfire before the Sardinian chapel

made of its seats, and both chapels too far in flames to be stopped;

indeed, the mob would not allow the engines to play. The soldiers, too,

arrived when it was too late to do anything, but seized thirteen of the

rioters.

The next day all seemed quiet; but at evening, the men having got their

Saturday's wages and their usual beer, there were some disturbances in

Moorfields, and the mob abused some of the Catholics there. The next

day, Sunday, the 4th, fresh crowds assembled in the same quarter, and

attacked the houses and chapels of the Catholics, and this continued

for the next three days. Troops were sent to quell them; but, having

orders not to fire, the mob cared nothing for them. Some of the rioters

took their way to Wapping and East Smithfield to destroy the Catholic

chapels in that neighbourhood; and others burst into and plundered the

shops and houses of Messrs. Rainsforth and Maberly, tradesmen, who had

been bold enough to give evidence against the rioters taken on Friday.

Another detachment took their way to Leicester Fields to ransack the

house of Sir George Savile, the author of the Bill for the relaxation

of the penal code against the Catholics. This they stripped and set

fire to, and some of the pictures and furniture, as well as some of

the effects taken from the Catholic chapels and houses in Moor fields,

were paraded before the house of Lord George Gordon, in Welbeck Street,

in triumph. The mob had now acquired a more desperate character.

The fanatic members of the Protestant Association had retired in

consternation from the work of destruction, seeing fresh elements

introduced into it--elements not of simple religious frenzy, but of

plunder and revolutionary fury. They had begun the disturbance, and the

thieves, pickpockets, burglars, and all the vilest and most demoniacal

tribes of the metropolis had most heartily taken it up.

The Government was paralysed by the greatness of the evil. While

the House of Commons had been sitting, the mob had attacked Lord

North's house, in Downing Street, close by; but a party of soldiers

had succeeded in interposing themselves between the mansion and its

assailants. The house of the Minister was saved; but the gigantic

mass of rioters then rolled towards the City, vowing that they would

sack Newgate, and release their comrades, who had been sent there on

Friday. On the 6th they appeared in vast numbers before that prison,

and demanded of Mr. Akerman, the keeper, the delivery of their

associates. Their cry was still "No Popery!" though their object

was havoc: they were armed with heavy sledge-hammers, crowbars, and

pick-axes; and on the keeper refusing to liberate the prisoners, they

commenced a desperate attack on his doors and windows, and, collecting

combustibles, flung them into the dwelling. It was speedily in flames,

and, whilst it burned, the mob thundered on the iron-studded doors of

the prison with their tools. But, as they made no impression, they

formed heaps of the keeper's furniture, and made a fire against the

doors. The fires spread from the keeper's house to the prison chapel,

and thence to some of the doors and passages leading into the wards.

The mob raised terrible yells of rage and triumph, which were as wildly

echoed by the prisoners within, some of whom were exulting in the

expectation of rescue, and others shrieking, afraid of perishing in the

conflagration. The crowd, now more furious than ever, from greedily

drinking the wine and spirits in the keepers cellar, rushed through the

gaps made by the flames, and were masters of the prison. They were led

on by ferocious fellows, who were but too familiar with the interior

of the place. The different cells were forced open, and the now

half-maddened prisoners were either rudely dragged out, or they rushed

forth in maniacal delight. Three hundred of these criminals, some of

them stained with the foulest offences, and four of them under sentence

of execution on the following Thursday, were let out, to add to the

horrors of the lawless tumult. They came out into the surging, roaring

multitude to raise their shouts at the sight of the great prison, which

had lately been rebuilt at a cost of one hundred and forty thousand

pounds, in one vast conflagration. Nothing was left of it the next

morning but a huge skeleton of blackened and frowning walls.

The same evening the new prison of Clerkenwell was broken open, and all

the prisoners were let loose. These joined the drinking, rabid mass,

and, in their turn, attacked and gutted the houses of two of the most

active magistrates--Sir John Fielding and Mr. Cox. As they went along,

they compelled the inhabitants to illuminate their houses, under menace

of burning them down. Everywhere they seized on gin, brandy, and beer,

and thus, in the highest paroxysm of drunken fury, at midnight they

appeared before Lord Mansfield's house, in Bloomsbury Square. He was

quickly obliged to escape with Lady Mansfield by the back door, and

to take refuge in the house of a friend in Lincoln's Inn Fields. The

mob broke in, and, having demolished the doors and windows, proceeded

to destroy and fling out into the square the furniture, pictures, and

books, of which their fellows outside made several bonfires. Then

perished one of the finest libraries in England, not only of works of

law but of literature, which his lordship, through a long course of

years, had been collecting.

The next morning, Wednesday, the 7th of June, the consternation was

universal. The shops continued closed, and people barricaded their

houses as well as they could, many of them chalking "No Popery!" on

their doors, or hanging blue silk, the Protestant Association colour,

from their windows. Dr. Johnson, in a walk from Fleet Street to see

the ruins of the Old Bailey, describes the coolness and composure with

which "the Protestants," men and boys, were employed in plundering

and stripping houses, unmolested by soldiers, constables, or any one.

Great numbers of the mob were going about, armed with iron bars torn

from the railings in front of Lord Mansfield's, to levy contributions

on the householders. Some went singly; three mere boys were observed

thus engaged in company; and one man, mounted on horseback, refused to

receive anything less than gold.

A strong party, not satisfied with having destroyed Lord Mansfield's

town house, set off to burn that at Caen Wood, near Highgate. They

were met and turned back by a detachment of cavalry. They were equally

disappointed in their intended sack of the Bank of England. They found

this mine of wealth guarded by infantry, who had here orders to fire,

and did it without scruple, killing and wounding a great many. They

were more successful against the prisons. They broke open the King's

Bench, the Fleet, the Marshalsea, and all the other prisons except the

Poultry Compter, and set at liberty all the prisoners. Before the day

had dawned, the whole sky was glaring with the light of conflagrations.

The number of separate fires burning at the same time was counted up

to thirty-six. Had the weather been stormy, the whole of London must

have been laid in ashes; but, providentially, the weather was perfectly

calm. The scene of the greatest catastrophe was at the distillery of

a Mr. Langdale, on Holborn Bridge. This gentleman was a Catholic, and

his stores of spirits were a violent temptation. They broke open his

premises in the evening, and destroyed everything. They staved in

his hogsheads of spirits, and others collected them in pails and in

their hats, and drank voraciously. The kennel ran a mingled river of

gin, brandy, and pure alcohol, and men, women, and children were seen

on their knees sucking up the stream as it flowed! Fire was set to

the premises, and catching the spirits which flooded the floors, the

flames shot up to the sky like a volcano. The unhappy wretches, who

had stupefied themselves with the fiery fluid, perished like flies in

the raging element. No such scene of horror had been seen in all these

spectacles of violence and crime. The loss of Mr. Langdale alone was

estimated at one hundred thousand pounds.

[Illustration: DR. JOHNSON VIEWING THE SCENE OF SOME OF THE "NO POPERY"

RIOTS. (_See p._ 268.)]

Up to this point, the whole Government and magistracy seemed as

much stupefied as the poor wretches who had perished in the flames

of the distillery. The king was the first to awake from this fatal

lethargy. He summoned a Council on the morning of the 7th of June,

at which he presided, and demanded what they had to propose for the

suppression of these disorders. At the king's question the Cabinet

appeared dumb-foundered. It was the general opinion that no officer

could proceed to extremities against a mob, however it might be

breaking the law, until an hour after the Riot Act had been read by

a magistrate. This was a monstrous perversion of the meaning of that

Act; but, had even this been zealously followed out, the riots must

have been promptly suppressed. Luckily, at this moment Wedderburn, the

Attorney-General, answered the king's interrogation boldly, that the

Riot Act bore no such construction as was put upon it. In his opinion,

no single hour was required for the dispersion of a mob after the

reading of the Riot Act; and not even the reading of the Act at all was

necessary for the authorisation of military force where a mob was found

actually committing a felony by firing a dwelling-house, and could not

be restrained by other means. Encouraged by Wedderburn's contention,

the king declared that that had always been his own opinion, and that

now he would act upon it. There should be, at least, one magistrate in

the kingdom who would do his duty. The Council, gathering courage, then

concurred, and a proclamation was issued, warning all householders to

keep within doors with their families, the king's officers being now

ordered to put down the riots by military execution, without waiting

for any further reading of the Riot Act.

This proclamation was speedily followed by the steady march of

soldiers to various quarters. At one moment was heard the loud roar

of innumerable voices in the full commission of outrage, and at the

next the rattle of musketry and the shrieks of the wounded and dying,

followed by a strange silence. The first troops who commenced the

bloody duty of repression were the Northumberland militia, who had

come that day by a forced march of twenty-five miles, and who were led

by Colonel Holroyd against the rioters at Langdale's distillery in

Holborn. A detachment of the Guards at the same time drove the mob from

the possession of Blackfriars Bridge. Numbers were there killed, or

were forced by the soldiers or their own fears over the parapet of the

bridge, and perished in the Thames. Where the mob would not disperse,

the officers now firmly gave the word of command, and the soldiers

fired in platoons. Little resistance was offered; in many quarters the

inhabitants, recovering their presence of mind, armed themselves, and

came forth in bodies to assist the soldiers. The number of troops now

assembled in and around London amounted to twenty-five thousand, and

before night the whole city was as quiet--far quieter, indeed--than

on ordinary occasions, for a sorrowful silence seemed to pervade it;

and besides two hundred men shot in the streets, two hundred and fifty

were carried to the hospitals wounded, of whom nearly one hundred soon

expired. But these bore no proportion to the numbers who had fallen

victims to their own excesses, or who had been buried under the ruins

of falling buildings, or consumed in the flames in the stupor of

intoxication. The king's decision had saved London.

On Tuesday, the 20th of June, the Commons entered on the consideration

of the great Protestant petition, praying for the repeal of Sir George

Savile's Act for the relief of Catholics. On this occasion Burke and

Lord North went hand in hand. Burke drew up five resolutions, which

North corrected. These resolutions declared that all attempts to seduce

the youth of this kingdom from the Established Church to Popery were

criminal in the highest degree, but that all attempts to wrest the

Act of 1778 beyond its due meaning, and to the unnecessary injury

of Catholics, were equally reprehensible. In the course of July the

rioters were brought to trial. Those prisoners confined in the City

were tried at the regular Old Bailey Sessions; those on the Surrey

side of the river by a Special Commission. The Lord Chief Justice

De Grey, being in failing health, resigned, and Wedderburn took his

place as Lord Chief Justice, under the title of Lord Loughborough. His

appointment gave great satisfaction; but this was considerably abated

by his speech at the opening of the Commission, in which he indulged in

very severe strictures on the rioters, who had to appear before him as

judge. Of the one hundred and thirty-five tried, about one half were

convicted, of whom twenty-one were executed, and the rest transported

for life. Amongst the convicted was Edward Dennis, the common hangman;

but he received a reprieve. The trial of Lord George Gordon, who was

foolishly accused of high treason, was postponed through a technical

cause till the following January, when he was ably defended by Mr.

Kenyon and Mr. Erskine; and the public mind having cooled, he was

acquitted. Probably the conviction of his insanity tended largely to

this result, which became more and more apparent, his last strange

freak being that of turning Jew.

From this episode of fire and fanaticism we recur to the general theme

of the war with Spain, France, and America, in which England was every

day becoming more deeply engaged. From the moment that Spain had

joined France in the war against us, other Powers, trusting to our

embarrassments with our colonies and those great European Powers, had

found it a lucrative trade to supply, under neutral flags, warlike

materials and other articles to the hostile nations; thus, whilst under

a nominal alliance, they actually furnished the sinews of war against

us. In this particular, Holland, the next great commercial country to

Britain, took the lead. She furnished ammunition and stores to the

Spaniards, who all this while were engaged in besieging Gibraltar.

Spain had also made a treaty with the Barbary States, by which she

cut off our supplies from those countries. To relieve Gibraltar,

Admiral Sir George Rodney, who was now appointed to the command of

our navy in the West Indies, was ordered to touch there on his way

out. On the 8th of January 1780, when he had been a few days out at

sea, he came in sight of a Spanish fleet, consisting of five armed

vessels, convoying fifteen merchantmen, all of which he captured. These

vessels were chiefly laden with wheat, flour, and other provisions,

badly needed at Gibraltar, and which he carried in with him, sending

the men-of-war to England. On the 16th he fell in with another fleet

off Cape St. Vincent, of eleven ships of the line, under Don Juan de

Langara, who had come out to intercept the provisions which England

sent to Gibraltar. Rodney had a much superior fleet, and the Spanish

admiral immediately attempted to regain his port. The weather was very

tempestuous, and the coast near the shoal of St. Lucar very dangerous;

he therefore stood in as close as possible to the shore, but Rodney

boldly thrust his vessels between him and the perilous strand, and

commenced a running fight. The engagement began about four o'clock in

the evening, and it was, therefore, soon dark; but Rodney, despite

the imminent danger of darkness, tempest, and a treacherous shore,

continued the fight, and the Spaniards for a time defended themselves

bravely. The battle continued till two o'clock in the morning; one

ship, the _San Domingo_, of seventy guns, blew up with six hundred men

early in the action; four ships of the line, including the admiral's,

of eighty guns, struck, and were carried by Rodney safe into port;

two seventy-gun ships ran on the shoal and were lost; and of all the

Spanish fleet only four ships escaped to Cadiz.

Bearing his prizes with him, Rodney proceeded to Gibraltar, carrying

great exultation to the besieged rock by the news of such victory and

the timely supplies. He sent on some ships to carry similar relief to

our garrison at Port Mahon, and, after lying some weeks at Gibraltar,

he dispatched Admiral Digby home with a portion of the fleet, and then

with the rest made sail for the West Indies. Digby, on his homeward

route, also captured a French ship of the line, and two merchant

vessels laden with military stores. This blow to the Spanish maritime

power was never altogether recovered during the war.

Rodney, on reaching the West Indies, found, as we shall see, a combined

fleet of French under the Count de Guichen, and of Spanish under

Admiral Solano; but he could not bring them to an engagement, and,

after a brief brush, they eventually eluded him, Solano taking refuge

in Havana, and De Guichen convoying the home-bound merchant ships of

France. Disappointed in his hopes of a conflict with these foes,

Rodney sailed for the North American coasts. Scarcely had he quitted

the European waters, however, when the Spaniards took a severe revenge

for his victory over them at St. Vincent. Florida Blanca, the Minister

of Spain, learnt, through his spies in England, that the English East

and West Indian traders were going out under a very foolishly feeble

escort--in fact, of only two ships of the line. Elated at the news,

Florida Blanca collected every vessel that he could, and dispatched

them, under Admirals Cordova and Gaston, to intercept this precious

prize. The enterprise was most successful. The Spanish fleet lay in

wait at the point where the East and West India vessels separate, off

the Azores, captured sixty sail of merchantmen, and carried them safe

into Cadiz. The two vessels of war escaped, but in the East Indiamen

were eighteen hundred soldiers going out to reinforce the troops in the

East.

This, though it was a severe blow to our trade, was but a small part

of the damage which the active spirit of Florida Blanca did us. He

promoted with all his energies the system of armed neutrality which

had long been projected on the Continent to cripple our power.

England knew that if she permitted this process, there was little

chance of her bringing any of her antagonists to terms; she therefore

insisted rigidly on the right of search, and on the seizure of all

such contraband articles under whatever flag they were conveyed. Not

only did Holland supply France and Spain in Europe, but she allowed

the American privateers to carry their English prizes into their West

Indian ports for sale. All this time Holland was not only bound by the

most immense obligations to Great Britain for the millions of money and

the tens of thousands of men whom we had sacrificed for the security of

her independence against France, but she was also bound by treaty to

furnish us certain aids when we were attacked by France. From the year

1778 Sir Joseph Yorke, our Ambassador at the Hague, had made continual

remonstrances against this clandestine trade with our enemies; and

France, on the other hand, had, by alternate menaces and persuasions,

exerted herself to induce the Dutch to set England at defiance. In this

she succeeded to a great extent. Much correspondence ensued, the Dutch

maintaining a specious neutrality, but still continuing to carry timber

and naval stores to France. Sir Joseph Yorke was therefore instructed

to demand from the States the succours stipulated by treaties, and

which might have been demanded the moment that France declared war

against England. On the 26th of November, 1779, he received not only a

positive refusal, but a fresh complaint of the interruption of their

trade by English men-of-war.

Whilst affairs with Holland were in this position, Count Florida

Blanca, the Spanish Minister, had adopted the system of seizing all

neutral vessels, of whatever nation, that were found carrying British

goods, and conveying them into Spanish ports as lawful prizes. This, as

he calculated, raised the resentment of all the neutral Powers--Russia,

Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, Holland, and the trading States of Italy--who

denounced these outrages on their flag. But Florida Blanca replied,

that so long as England was suffered to pursue this system, Spain must

continue to make reprisals; that it was, however, in the power of

the neutral nations to combine and defend their flags, by compelling

England to desist. The result was as he had hoped. Catherine of Russia,

who had hitherto considered herself an ally of England--who had, at

one time, contemplated furnishing soldiers to assist in reducing the

American rebels, and who protested against the monstrosity of France

encouraging the colonies of England to throw off their allegiance--was

suddenly induced to change her tone. On the 26th of February she issued

her famous proclamation, "that free ships should make free goods."

This meant that all neutral nations should continue to carry all kinds

of articles to Powers at war with one another, without search or

question, except such goods as were expressly specified in treaties.

Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, France, and Spain, all readily entered into

this league, which assumed the name of the "Armed Neutrality," the

object of which, though ostensibly to control all belligerent Powers,

was really to suppress the naval power of England. Holland eulogised

this league, but did not yet venture to join it; but prohibited the

exportation of stores to our garrison in Gibraltar, whilst her ships

were busy carrying supplies to the Spanish besiegers. Sir Joseph Yorke,

therefore, on the 21st of March, 1780, informed the States that,

unless the stipulated help was furnished within three weeks, England

would suspend, _pro tempore_, the regulations in favour of the Dutch

commerce. The States still refused to furnish the succours, and at the

specified time the privileges in question were suspended, though Count

Welderen still continued in London, and Sir Joseph Yorke at the Hague.

It was evident that Holland could not long continue in this position,

and Frederick of Prussia was soliciting Catherine of Russia to enter

into an engagement to protect the Dutch commerce in every quarter of

the globe. If Frederick could have prevailed, he would have stirred up

a universal crusade against England; but Catherine was not rash enough

for this quixotism.

[Illustration: OLD NEWGATE.]

We return now to the American campaign. Sir Henry Clinton, at the close

of the year 1779, proceeded to carry into effect his plan of removing

the war to the Southern States. The climate there favoured the project

of a winter campaign, and, on the day after Christmas Day, Sir Henry

embarked five thousand men on board the fleet of Admiral Arbuthnot.

But the weather at sea at this season proved very tempestuous, and his

ships were driven about for seven weeks. Many of his transports were

lost, some of them were taken by the enemy; he lost nearly all the

horses of the cavalry and artillery, and one vessel carrying the heavy

ordnance foundered at sea. It was the 11th of February, 1780, when

he landed on St. John's Island, about thirty miles from Charleston.

He then planned the investment of Charleston with Admiral Arbuthnot;

but he was not on good terms with that officer, and this threw great

impediments in the way of prompt action. It was the 1st of April

before they could break ground before the city. Once begun, however,

the siege was prosecuted with vigour. Lord Cornwallis was sent to

scour the country, and so completely did he effect this, that Lincoln

was compelled to offer terms of surrender. These were considered too

favourable to the Americans, and the siege continued till the 11th

of May, when the English were doing such damage to the town, and the

inhabitants suffering so much, that they threatened to throw open the

gates if Lincoln did not surrender. In this dilemma, Lincoln offered to

accept the terms proposed by Clinton before, and the British general

assented to his proposal. On the 12th of May the Americans grounded

their arms. The news of this blow, which laid the whole south open to

the English, carried consternation throughout the States; and, arriving

in England at the close of the Gordon riots, seemed to restore the

spirits of the British.

The town of Charleston being now in his possession, Sir Henry

Clinton proceeded to reduce the whole province to obedience. He

issued proclamations, calling on the well-affected young men to form

themselves into military bodies, and to act in support of the king's

troops, pledging himself that they should never be called upon to march

beyond the frontiers of North Carolina on the one side, or those of

Georgia on the other; and he assured the inhabitants at large of the

utmost protection of person and property, so long as they continued

peaceable and loyal subjects of the Crown. In the meantime, Lord

Cornwallis continued to enforce these proposals by the movements of his

troops. Could Sir Henry Clinton have remained in this quarter, he would

without doubt have steadily carried his victorious arms northward till

he had everywhere restored the rule of England. But he was completely

crippled by the wretched management of the miserable Government at

home, who seemed to expect to reconquer America without an army. At

this crisis he received news that the Americans were mustering in

strong force on the Hudson, and that a French fleet was daily expected

on the coast of New England to co-operate with them. He was now

compelled to embark for New York, leaving Lord Cornwallis to maintain

the ground obtained in South Carolina as well as he could with a body

of four thousand men. His second in command was Lord Rawdon, a young

officer who had distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Bunker's

Hill, and who, like Cornwallis, his chief, was destined, in after

years, to occupy the distinguished post of Governor-General of India,

with the successive titles of Earl Moira and Marquis of Hastings. The

chief business of Cornwallis was to maintain the status gained in South

Carolina, but he was at liberty to make a move into North Carolina if

he thought it promising.

Congress, alarmed at the progress of the English in South Carolina, had

made extraordinary efforts to reinforce the Republican party in North

Carolina. On the fall of Charleston, General Gates, who had acquired

a high but spurious reputation upon the surrender of Burgoyne, was

sent to take the chief command. In marching towards South Carolina,

the American army suffered severely from the tropical heat of the

climate and the scarcity of food. Gates led them through a country

of alternating swamps and sandy deserts, called by the Americans

pine-barrens. The troops lived chiefly on the lean cattle which they

found scattered through the woods, on green Indian corn, and peaches,

which were plentiful, being indigenous to the State of Louisiana.

Lord Rawdon, who was lying at Camden, where he had halted his men to

protect them from the heat, was joined there by Lord Cornwallis early

in August. The entire force when united did not, however, exceed two

thousand men, whilst the troops of Gates amounted to six thousand.

The British general, notwithstanding, advanced briskly to meet the

Americans, and on the evening of the 16th of August the two armies met

rather unexpectedly, and some skirmishing took place, after which they

halted in position till near daybreak.

When day dawned, Cornwallis saw that the ground he occupied was so

favourable that it rendered his inferiority of numbers of little

consequence. He therefore drew out his forces for immediate action.

Swamps to the right and left narrowed the ground by which the Americans

could approach him, and forming his troops into two lines, commanded

by Lord Rawdon and General Webster, he attacked the Americans under

Gates and quickly put them to the rout. The Virginian militia ran most

nimbly, and sought refuge in the woods. Gates himself galloped away

believing all was lost, and never halted till he reached Charlotte,

about eighty miles off. The only men who fought well were two brigades

of regulars under the command of the German, Von Kalb, who kept his

ground against the troops of Lord Rawdon for three-quarters of an hour,

sustaining repeated charges of the bayonet unmoved; but Von Kalb fell

mortally wounded, and the last of the Americans then gave way and fled

for their lives in all directions.

The American Congress, which had imagined Gates a greater officer even

than Washington, because he had captured Burgoyne through the ability

of Arnold, though Washington--from envy, as they supposed--had always

held a more correct opinion, now saw their error. No sooner was this

victory at Camden achieved, than Cornwallis dispatched Tarleton after

General Sumter, who was marching on the other side of the Wateree on

his way into South Carolina. Tarleton started after him with a couple

of hundred of cavalry, and rode so sharply that he had left half his

little force behind him, when he came up with him near Catawba Ford,

and fell upon his far superior force without a moment's hesitation,

killing and wounding one hundred, and taking captive upwards of two

hundred, with all Sumter's baggage, artillery, and one thousand stand

of arms.

Cornwallis now announced to the Royalists of North Carolina that he

would soon send a force for their defence, and advanced to Charlotte.

He next took measures for punishing those who had pretended to

re-accept the allegiance of England only to relapse into a double

treachery. He declared that all such being captured should be treated

as traitors, and hanged. These severe measures were carried into

execution on some of the prisoners taken at Camden and Augusta, and

others were shipped off to St. Augustine. This system was as impolitic

as it was cruel, for the Americans were certain to adopt it in

retaliation, as they did, with a frightful ferocity, when the Royalists

were overthrown in South Carolina, and avowedly on this ground. Lord

Rawdon, adopting the example, wrote to his officers that he would

give ten guineas for the head of any deserter from the volunteers of

Ireland, and five only if brought in alive.

Scarcely had Lord Cornwallis commenced his march into the interior of

North Carolina, and scarcely had he dispatched Major Ferguson with a

corps of American Royalists, to advance through the country towards

the frontiers of Virginia, when this corps received another proof of

the wisdom of keeping out of the woods and hills. Major Ferguson was

attacked near the pass of King's Mountain by swarms of riflemen, many

of them mounted, from Virginia, Kentucky, and the Alleghanies who shot

down and exterminated his followers almost to a man, the major falling

amongst the rest. The victors gave a prompt proof of their apt adoption

of Lord Cornwallis's teaching, by hanging ten of the prisoners. Lord

Cornwallis was harassed by similar hordes of flying and creeping

skirmishers. Hearing the news of the slaughter of Ferguson's force, he

returned to Charlotte, retracing his march through most rainy weather,

terrible roads, and almost totally destitute of provisions. Cornwallis

fell ill on the road, and Lord Rawdon had to assume the command. It

was not till the 29th of October that the army resumed its original

position near Camden; and General Leslie, who had been also dispatched

to co-operate with Cornwallis in Virginia, was recalled, but was

obliged to return by sea.

The news of the approach of the French succours was brought by

Lafayette, who, much to the joy of Washington, and of America

generally, again reached the States, landing at Boston in April.

He announced that the fleet, commanded by the Chevalier de Ternay,

consisted of seven sail of the line, with numerous smaller vessels,

and brought over six thousand troops, under the Comte de Rochambeau.

The French squadron reached Rhode Island on the 13th of July.

Washington thereupon declared himself ready for an attack on New

York; but Rochambeau replied that it would be better to wait for

the expected and much larger fleet of De Guichen. Before De Guichen

appeared, the English admiral, Graves, arrived, with six ships of war,

thus increasing the English superiority at sea, and De Ternay found

himself blockaded in the harbour of Newport, and Rochambeau was glad to

entrench himself on Rhode Island, and abandon all idea of attacking New

York. Sir Henry Clinton, on his part, planned an attack on Rochambeau

with the army, while the French fleet blockaded in Newport harbour

should be attacked by Admiral Arbuthnot. But Clinton and Arbuthnot

were at variance, and the admiral did not promptly and cordially

second the views of Clinton. He went slowly round Long Island, to

place himself in conjunction with the general; whilst Clinton embarked

eight thousand troops, and approached the position of Rochambeau. But

Arbuthnot strongly contended against the attempt, declaring Rochambeau

too formidably fortified, and Washington, at the same time, advancing

from his position with a large force, suddenly passed the North River

and approached King's Bridge, as if meditating an attack on New York.

These circumstances induced Clinton reluctantly to return to New York.

Washington retreated to his old ground at Morristown, and Arbuthnot

remained blockading De Ternay before Newport. Neither party, therefore,

could do more than be still for the remainder of the season. Clinton

was completely crippled for any decisive action by the miserable

modicum of troops which the English Government had furnished him, and

the enemy now knew that the fleet of De Guichen was not likely to

arrive this season.

This fleet had enough to do to cope with Rodney in the West Indian

waters. Rodney, as we have hinted, with twenty sail of the line, came

up with De Guichen's fleet of twenty-three sail of the line, besides

smaller vessels, on the evening of the 16th of April, off St. Lucia.

He came into action with it on the 17th, and succeeded in breaking

its line, and might have obtained a most complete victory, but that

several of his captains behaved very badly, paying no attention to

his signals. The _Sandwich_, the Admiral's ship, was much damaged in

the action, and the French sailed away. Rodney wrote most indignantly

home concerning the conduct of the captains, and one of them was

tried and broken, and some of the others were censured; but they were

protected by the spirit of faction, and escaped their due punishment.

Rodney, finding he could not bring the French again to engage, put into

St. Lucia to refit, and land his wounded men, of whom he had three

hundred and fifty; besides one hundred and twenty killed. De Guichen

had suffered far more severely. Rodney again got sight of the French

fleet on the 10th of May, between St. Lucia and Martinique; but they

avoided him, and made their escape into the harbour of Fort Royal.

Hearing of the approach of a Spanish fleet of twelve sail of the line,

and a great number of lesser vessels and transports, bringing from ten

thousand to twelve thousand men, Rodney went in quest of it, to prevent

its junction with the French; but Solano, the Spanish admiral, took

care not to go near Rodney, but, reaching Guadeloupe, sent word of his

arrival there to De Guichen, who managed to sail thither and join him.

This now most overwhelming united fleet of France and Spain left Rodney

no alternative but to avoid an engagement on his part. He felt that not

only our West India Islands, but the coasts of North America, were at

its mercy; but it turned out otherwise.

The Spaniards had so crowded their ships with soldiers, and made such

wretched provision for their accommodation, that the most destructive

and contagious fever was raging amongst them. This was quickly

communicated to the French vessels; the mortality was more than that

of a great battle, and the combined fleet hastened to Martinique,

where they landed their soldiers and part of their seamen to recruit.

They remained at Fort Royal till the 5th of July, only to disagree and

quarrel more and more. Proceeding thence to St. Domingo, they parted,

De Guichen returning to Europe, as convoy of the French homebound

merchantmen; and Solano sailing to Havana, to co-operate with his

countrymen in their designs on Florida.

Thus this mighty armada--of which such high things were expected--was

dispersed; Rodney, sending part of his fleet to Jamaica, proceeded to

join Arbuthnot at New York, with eleven ships of the line and four

frigates. The news of his approach reached the French and Americans

there, at the same time as that of the return of De Guichen to Europe,

and spread the greatest consternation. To consider what was best to

do in the circumstances, a meeting was proposed at Hartford, in

Connecticut, between Washington and Rochambeau, which took place on the

21st of September. At this moment a discovery took place which had a

startling effect on the Americans, and was calculated to inspire the

most gloomy views of their condition. General Arnold, who had fought

his way up from the humble station of a horse-dealer to that which

he now held, had, on all occasions, shown himself an officer of the

most daring and enterprising character. Having been appointed military

governor of Philadelphia, after its evacuation by General Clinton in

1778, as a post where he might recover from the severe wounds which he

had received in the recent campaign, he began a style of living much

too magnificent for his finances, for, with all his abilities, Arnold

was a vain and extravagant man. He married a beautiful young lady of

that city of Royalist origin. Rumours to his disadvantage were soon

afloat, originating in this cause, for whatever he did was regarded by

the staunch Whigs with an unfavourable eye. Congress was the more ready

to listen to charges against him, because, involved himself in debts

incurred by his extravagance, he pressed them for large claims upon

them, which they had no means to satisfy. Commissioners were selected

by them to examine his claims, and these men, appointed for their

hard, mean natures, reduced his demands extremely. Arnold uttered his

indignation at such treatment in no measured terms, and the consequence

was that he was arrested, tried by a court-martial, on various charges

of peculation in his different commands, and for extortion on the

citizens of Philadelphia. Some of these were declared groundless,

but others were pronounced to be proved, and Arnold was condemned to

be reprimanded by the Commander-in-Chief. This put the climax to his

wrath. Washington, who had, in Arnold's opinion, been as unjustly

exalted and favoured for his defeats and delays, as he himself had been

envied and repressed for his brilliant exploits, was of all men the one

from whom he could not receive with patience a formal condemnation.

This sentence was carried into effect in January, 1779, and Arnold,

stung to the quick, was prepared to perpetrate some desperate design.

The opportunity came when he was placed in command of West Point, on

the Hudson, which was the key to all intercourse between the Northern

and Southern States.

[Illustration: ARREST OF MAJOR ANDRÉ. (_See p._ 278.)]

At the very time he received this appointment he was actually in

correspondence with Colonel Robinson, an officer of General Clinton's

staff, declaring that he was become convinced of the more righteous

cause of the mother country, and that he was prepared to testify this

by some signal service to his king. It was at the beginning of August

of the present year when Arnold assumed his command at West Point;

and Clinton lost no time in opening a direct correspondence with

him, through which such singular advantages were offered. Sir Henry

Clinton employed as his agent in this correspondence a young officer of

high promise in his profession and of considerable literary talents,

Major John André, Adjutant-General and aide-de-camp to Sir Henry. As

Clinton was naturally anxious to bring this hazardous correspondence

to a close, he pressed Arnold to come to a speedy decision, offering

him rank in the army and a high reward in return for the promised

services--namely, the surrender of West Point, with all its dependent

forts and stores, including, as a matter of course, the command of

the Hudson, and the terror and distrust which this act would spread

through the American army. The absence of Washington at the meeting

with Rochambeau at Hartford was seized on as a proper opportunity for a

personal and final conference on the subject. Major André was selected

by General Clinton to meet Arnold on neutral ground. The place selected

was on the western bank of the Hudson, and Clinton strongly enjoined

him to enter on no account within the American lines, to assume no

disguise, nor to be the bearer of any written documents. Day dawned

before the whole preliminaries were settled, though the chief point

was determined--namely, that West Point should be surrendered to the

English on the following Monday. André was prevailed on to remain

with Arnold the greater part of the day; and then, on going down to

the shore, he found that the boatman who had brought him out refused

to carry him back. When André returned to Arnold at Smith's house, he

gave him a pass, and advised him to travel by land to King's Ferry,

and there to cross. He insisted that for this purpose he must assume

a disguise, and travel under his assumed name of John Anderson. So

little was André apprehensive of danger, that he not only disobeyed the

injunction of his commander-in-chief in this particular, but in the

far more important one of carrying written papers, which he concealed

in his boot.

He was proceeding in all apparent safety when, approaching the village

of Tarrytown, three militiamen suddenly sprang forward, and, seizing

his bridle, demanded who he was. André, being on neutral ground,

exceeded his former incaution, and instead of ascertaining whether the

men were Americans, in which case Arnold's pass was his security, he

asked the men who they were, and being answered "From below," which was

the pass for New York, replied, "And so am I." By this, discovering

that he was a British officer, the men began to search him, and soon

made prize of his fatal papers. Warned in time, Arnold escaped on board

a British man-of-war. But very different was the fate of Major André.

General Clinton, the moment he was aware of his arrest, sent a letter

to Washington, stating that André had gone on shore under a flag of

truce, and, at the time of his arrest, was travelling under a pass from

Arnold, the commander of the district. Clinton therefore requested

Washington to liberate André immediately. To this letter Washington

did not reply till after a lapse of four days, and after the board of

officers appointed for the purpose had declared André a spy. He even

rejected the last prayer of the gallant soldier that he might be spared

the gibbet, and had him hanged.

During this year the Americans continued to hope for relief to

themselves from the progress of the Armed Neutrality, but derived

little good from it, though, through their exertions, they beheld

Holland added to the open enemies of England. The Dutch Government,

flattering themselves that, with nearly all the world against her,

England must succumb, had long been secretly in negotiation with the

insurgent subjects of England, and their treachery was now suddenly,

by a singular circumstance, brought to light. Captain Keppel, cruising

in the _Vestal_ frigate off the banks of Newfoundland, in the month of

September, captured one of the American packets. On the approach of

the British boats to the packet, it was observed that something was

hastily flung overboard. A sailor leaped from one of the boats into

the sea, and succeeded in securing this something before it had sunk

beyond reach. It turned out to be a box, which had been weighted with

lead, but not sufficiently to render it so rapid in its descent as to

prevent its seizure by the British tar. On being opened, it revealed

a mass of papers belonging to an American emissary to the Court of

Holland, and opened up a long course of negotiations, and an eventual

treaty of peace and commerce between Holland and our American colonies.

The bearer of these papers was discovered on board the packet, in the

person of Henry Laurens, late president of the American Congress.

These most important papers, together with their bearer, were sent

with all speed to England. Copies were forwarded to Sir Joseph Yorke,

our Ambassador at the Hague, who was instructed to demand from the

States General the disavowal of the negotiations. The States General,

confounded by the discovery of their clandestine negotiations, remained

silent for a week, and then only replied by advancing complaints of

violence committed by the British navy on their traders, and of its

having insulted the Dutch flag by seizing some American privateers in

the port of the island of St. Martin, under the very guns of the fort.

Sir Joseph did not allow himself to be diverted from his demand, but

again, on the 12th of December, a month after the presentation of his

memorial, demanded an answer. No answer was returned. England was thus

compelled to declare war against Holland on the 20th of December, Sir

Joseph Yorke being recalled by the king, and Count Welderen receiving

his passports in London.

The enemy, meanwhile, were on the alert, trying, by their fleets and

armies, to assail us in almost every quarter. In the very opening

days of the year--at the very commencement of January, 1781--the

French made an attack on the island of Jersey. They had sent across

the Channel a fleet carrying nearly two thousand men; but their ships

met the common fortune that has ever attended invaders of Britain:

they were scattered by tempests, many of them dashed on the rocks of

those iron-bound shores, and some driven back to port. They managed,

however, to land eight hundred men by night, and surprised the town of

St. Helier's, taking prisoner its Lieutenant-Governor, Major Corbet,

who thereupon thinking all lost, agreed to capitulate. But the next

officer in command, Major Pierson, a young man of only twenty-five,

refused to comply with so pusillanimous an order. He rallied the troops

and encouraged the inhabitants, who fired on the French from their

windows. The invaders, surrounded in the market-place, were compelled

to surrender, after their commander, the Baron de Rullecourt, and many

of his soldiers, were killed. The gallant young Pierson was himself

killed by nearly the last shot.

The garrison of Gibraltar was all this time hard pressed by the

Spaniards. Florida Blanca had made a convention with the Emperor of

Morocco to refuse the English any supplies; those thrown in by Rodney

the year before were nearly exhausted, and they were reduced to grave

straits. Admiral Darby was commissioned to convoy one hundred vessels

laden with provisions, and to force a way for them into the garrison.

Darby not only readily executed his commission, to the great joy of the

poor soldiers, but he blockaded the huge Spanish fleet under Admiral

Cordova, in the harbour of Cadiz, whilst the stores were landing.

In America, all at the opening of the campaign seemed to favour the

English cause. The army of Washington, still suffering the utmost

extremities of cold and starvation, began in earnest to mutiny. A

Pennsylvanian division of one thousand three hundred men marched out

of their camp at Morristown, and proceeded to Princeton, carrying with

them six field-pieces and their stores, and their demands were granted

by Congress. The success of this revolt encouraged others to repeat

the manœuvre. On the night of the 20th of January a part of the Jersey

brigade, stationed at Pompton, marched to Chatham, and made precisely

the same demands. But now seeing that, if this were suffered, the whole

army would quickly go to pieces, Washington sent General Howe after

them, with orders to surround them, and shoot them down, if they did

not surrender; and if they did surrender, immediately to seize the most

active ringleaders, and execute them. Howe readily accomplished his

mission; he reduced the mutinous, and shot their leaders.

In such very discouraging circumstances the American campaign began.

Whilst insurrection was in their camp, Sir Henry Clinton dispatched

General Arnold to make a descent upon the coast of Virginia. That

general had been dispatched into that quarter, at the close of the

year, with one thousand six hundred men, in ships so bad, that

they were obliged to fling overboard some of their horses. Arnold,

however, first sailed up the river James, and landed at Westover, only

twenty-five miles from Richmond, the capital of Virginia. Jefferson,

who was Governor of Virginia, was seized with great alarm; for, though

the militia of the State were nominally fifty thousand, he could muster

only a few hundreds. He therefore hastily collected what property

he could, and fled up the country, dreading to fall into the hands

of a man so embittered against the Americans as Arnold was, who was

himself well aware that they had determined to hang him without mercy

if they caught him. Arnold did not allow much time to elapse without

action. The next day he was in Richmond, and sent word to Jefferson

that, provided British vessels might come up the river to take away

the tobacco, he would spare the town. Jefferson rejected the proposal,

and Arnold burnt all the tobacco stores and the public buildings, both

there and at Westham. After committing other ravages, he returned to

Portsmouth, on Elizabeth River, where he entrenched himself. On the

26th of March, General Phillips, having assumed the command, in company

with Arnold ascended James River with two thousand five hundred men,

took and destroyed much property in Williamsburg and York Town, ravaged

the country around, and then sailed to the mouth of the Appomattox,

and burnt all the shipping and tobacco in Petersburg. After other

depredations, and forcing the Americans to destroy their own flotilla

between Warwick and Richmond, Phillips and Arnold descended the James

River to Manchester, and proposed to cross over to Richmond. But

Lafayette having just reached that place before them with upwards of

two thousand men, they re-embarked, and, after destroying much other

property, especially shipping and stores, at Warwick and other places,

they fell down to Hog Island, where they awaited further orders.

An active warfare had been going on at the same time in North Carolina.

Lord Cornwallis had, however, no longer to compete with the inefficient

Gates, but with General Greene, a much more vigorous man. On the 17th

of January, Colonel Tarleton, who had been dispatched with a thousand

men, horse and foot, to attack a body of Americans under General

Morgan, came up with them at a place called Cowpens. Tarleton's troops

were worn out by their long march, but that impetuous officer gave them

no time to rest themselves, but fell on the enemy with loud shouts.

The militia fled at once, and the advance of the English endangered

the flanks of the Continentals, and it became necessary to make a

retrograde movement. This Tarleton mistook for a retreat, so accustomed

was he to carry all before him, and his men were rushing on without

regard to order, when the Americans suddenly faced about, poured a

deadly fire into the British at thirty yards' distance, and then,

briskly charging, broke their already disorderly line. Being closely

pursued, they lost, in killed and wounded, upwards of five hundred men.

On hearing of the defeat of Tarleton, Cornwallis advanced rapidly, in

order, if possible, to intercept Morgan and his English prisoners at

the fords of Catawba. A rise of the water from the rains prevented his

crossing that river so soon as he expected, and Morgan joined Greene,

both generals, however, retreating behind the Yadkin. The swollen state

of the river and the want of boats also detained Lord Cornwallis at

the Yadkin, but he finally succeeded in crossing and throwing himself

between Greene and the frontiers of Virginia, from which Greene looked

for his supplies and reinforcements. Greene continued to retreat till

he had also placed the Dan between himself and Cornwallis; but his

militia had deserted so rapidly on his flight, that, on reaching the

Dan, he had not more than eighty of that body with him. Greene now had

the way open to him for retreat into Virginia, and, Cornwallis giving

up the chase, marched leisurely to Hillsborough, in North Carolina,

where he invited the Royalists to join his standard. Such was his

success--numbers of Royalists flocking in to serve with Tarleton's

legion--that Greene, alarmed at the consequences of this movement,

turned back for the purpose of cutting off all possible reinforcements

of this kind, yet avoiding a general engagement. Once more Cornwallis

advanced to chastise Greene, and once more Greene beat a retreat. This

manœuvring continued till the 15th of March, when Greene having been

joined by fresh troops, thought himself strong enough to encounter

the English general. He drew up his army on very strong ground near

Guildford Court House, where Cornwallis boldly attacked him, and, after

a stout battle, completely routed him.

But the British were in no condition to take advantage of American

exhaustion. At a time when the Ministry at home had obtained the most

magnificent grants from Parliament--grants for ninety thousand seamen,

thirty thousand soldiers, and twenty-five millions of pounds to pay for

them--there was scarcely a fleet on the American coasts, and nothing

which could be called an army. Had Cornwallis been in possession of

an adequate force, he would speedily have cleared all the Southern

States. Wherever he came, even with his handful of men, he drove the

Americans before him. He now took up his headquarters at Cross Creek,

where he sought to rest his troops and recover his sick and wounded.

He hoped there to establish a communication with Major Craig, who had

been successfully dispatched to take possession of Wilmington, at the

mouth of Cape Fear River, but this was not very practicable, and as

the country about Cross Creek was destitute of the necessary supplies,

Cornwallis himself descended to Wilmington, which he reached on the 7th

of April. Colonel Webster and others of his wounded officers died on

the march. Greene, with his fragment of an army, as badly provisioned

as that of Cornwallis, followed them at a safe distance.

At Wilmington Lord Cornwallis remained about three weeks, uncertain

as to his plan of operations. His forces amounted to only about one

thousand five hundred men; he therefore determined, at length, to march

into Virginia, and join the expedition there. He made his march without

encountering any opposition, reaching Presburg on the 20th of May.

Thereupon Lord Cornwallis found himself at the head of a united force

of seven thousand men. Sir Henry Clinton's effective troops at New York

amounted only to ten thousand nine hundred and thirty-one men, and the

little detachment under Lord Rawdon only to nine hundred.

The very day that Lord Cornwallis had marched from Wilmington, Lord

Rawdon was bravely fighting with Greene at Hobkirk's Hill, in South

Carolina. Greene had not ventured to attack Lord Cornwallis; but he

thought he might, by diverting his course into South Carolina, induce

him to follow, and thus leave exposed all North Carolina to Wayne

and Lafayette, as well as all his important posts in the upper part

of North Carolina. Greene failed to draw after him Cornwallis, but

he sat down at Hobkirk's Hill, about two miles from the outposts of

Lord Rawdon's camp at Camden. Lord Rawdon, hearing that Greene was

waiting to be reinforced by troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, did

not give him time for that. He marched out of Camden, at nine o'clock

in the morning, on the 25th of April, and quietly making a circuit

through some woods, he came upon Greene's flank, and drove in his

pickets before he was perceived. Startled from his repose, Greene

sought to return the surprise by sending Colonel Washington, a nephew

of the American commander-in-chief, with a body of cavalry, to fall on

Rawdon's rear, as he was passing up the hill. But Rawdon was aware of

this manœuvre, and prevented it, still pressing up Hobkirk's Hill, in

the face of the artillery, charged with grape-shot. Greene's militia

fled with all speed, and Rawdon stood triumphant on the summit of

the hill, in the centre of Greene's camp. But the success was not

followed up, owing to the insufficiency of the English troops, and

Greene was able, without risking another engagement, to compel Rawdon

to retire to Charleston. The American general encamped on the Santee

Hills until September, when he descended on Colonel Stewart, who had

succeeded Rawdon. After a severe struggle at Eutaw Springs on the 8th

of September, Stewart retired to Charleston Neck, and all Georgia

and South Carolina were lost to the English, with the exception of

Charleston and Savannah. Meanwhile, Lord Cornwallis only allowed

himself three days' rest at Presburg; he marched thence, on the 24th

of May, in quest of Lafayette, who was encamped on the James River.

Cornwallis crossed that river at Westover, about thirty miles below

Lafayette's camp, and that nimble officer retreated in all haste to

join General Wayne, who was marching through Maryland with a small

force of eight hundred Pennsylvanians. Lafayette and Wayne retreated up

the James River, and Cornwallis pursued his march to Portsmouth. There

he received an order from Sir Henry Clinton, desiring him to look out

for a position where he could fortify himself, and at the same time

protect such shipping as might be sent to the Chesapeake to prevent the

entrance of the French. Cornwallis fixed on York Town, on York River,

and there, and at Gloucester, in its vicinity, he was settled with his

troops by the 22nd of August. Sir Henry Clinton wrote, intimating that

he should probably send more troops to the Chesapeake, as there was a

probability that Washington and Rochambeau, giving up the attack of New

York, would make a united descent on York Town. Wayne and Lafayette

were already continually increasing their forces above York Town; but

any such reinforcements by Sir Henry were prevented by the entrance of

the Comte de Grasse, with twenty-eight sail of the line and several

frigates, into the Chesapeake, having on board three thousand two

hundred troops, which he had brought from the West Indies. These troops

he landed, and sent, under the Marquis de St Simon, to join Lafayette,

much to his delight.

[Illustration: SURRENDER OF LORD CORNWALLIS, YORK TOWN. (_See p._ 283.)]

Rodney, who was still commanding in the West Indies, had been on the

look-out for De Grasse, but, missing him, he had dispatched Sir Samuel

Hood after him, supposing that he had made for New York. Hood had

with him fourteen ships of the line, and, arriving at Sandy Hook on

the 28th of August, he found that De Grasse had then sailed for the

Chesapeake. Admiral Arbuthnot had been replaced by Admiral Graves, but

Graves had only seven ships of the line, and of these only five fit for

action. Taking the chief command, with these twenty-one ships Graves

set sail for the Chesapeake, with Hood as second in command. There, on

the 5th of September, he discerned the fleet of De Grasse at anchor,

just within the Capes of Virginia, and blocking up York River with

his frigates. Graves had his nineteen ships, De Grasse twenty-eight,

and Nelson could have desired nothing better than such a sight in the

narrow waters of the Chesapeake: not a ship would have escaped him;

but Graves was no Nelson, and allowed De Grasse to cut his cables

and run out to sea. There, indeed, Graves attacked him, but under

infinitely greater disadvantages, at four o'clock in the afternoon. The

night parted them, and De Grasse returned to his old anchorage in the

Chesapeake, and Graves sailed away again for New York.

Meanwhile, Washington and Rochambeau were mustering for the march

to the Chesapeake. On the 14th of September Washington reached the

headquarters of Lafayette, and took the supreme command, Rochambeau

being second, and the especial head of the French. The next day

Washington and Rochambeau held a conference with the Comte de Grasse.

De Grasse told them that what they did they must do quickly, for that

he could not remain on that station longer than the 1st of November;

and it was resolved to act accordingly.

Sir Henry Clinton had for some time been aware of the real destination

of the united forces of Washington and Rochambeau. He must have seen

that there was a determined resolve to crush, by the most powerful

combination of American and French forces, the army in the south,

and every exertion should have been made by him, with fleet and

army, to release Cornwallis from his peril. But, instead of sending

direct reinforcements to Cornwallis, and ordering the fleet to engage

the enemy's attention, and, if possible, defeat De Grasse in the

Chesapeake, he concocted a diversion in Connecticut with Arnold,

which he fondly hoped would recall Washington. Sir Henry Clinton

contemplated further expeditions--first against the Rhode Island fleet,

and next against Philadelphia; but these never came off, and matters

were now every day assuming such an aspect as should have stimulated

him to some direct assistance to Cornwallis.

On the 28th of September the combined army of French and Americans

came in sight of York Town, and encamped about two miles from the

outworks. The next morning they extended themselves towards the left

of Cornwallis, but cautiously; and the English pickets slowly retired

within the outer lines at their approach. That evening Cornwallis

received a despatch from Sir Henry Clinton, dated September 24th,

which gave the cheering expectation that he was duly sensible of the

imminence of the danger, and of his responsibility. He said:--"At

a meeting of the general and flag officers held this day, it is

determined that above five thousand men, rank and file, shall be

embarked on board the king's ships, and the joint exertions of the

navy and army made in a few days to relieve you, and afterwards to

co-operate with you. The fleet consists of twenty-three sail of the

line, three of which are three-deckers. There is every reason to hope

that we start on the 5th of October." On this promising intimation of

speedy aid, Cornwallis immediately drew in his small force from the

extended outworks, and concentrated them within the entrenchments round

the town. Undoubtedly it was a measure calculated to save much life,

which must have been lost in defending outworks too widely extended

for the enclosed force; but it encouraged the Americans, who did not

expect to gain them thus easily. Two thousand men took up their ground

before Gloucester. Round York Town itself Washington, Rochambeau,

Lafayette, and St. Simon concentrated their forces. On the night of

the 1st of October, the French on the right and the Americans on the

left drew nearer, and commenced breaking ground. Six days were then

spent in bringing from the ships fifty pieces of cannon, some of them

very heavy, ammunition, and other military stores; in fact, as much

preparation was made for carrying this single post as if it had been

a regular and first-rate fortress. On the night of the 6th of October

the French and Americans began casting up their first parallel within

six hundred yards of Cornwallis's lines. By the 9th of October their

trenches and batteries were completed, and that afternoon they opened a

tremendous fire on the town. Cornwallis replied to them with vigour,

but he found many of his guns on the left silenced, and his works

greatly damaged. On the night of the 11th the enemy began their second

parallel within three hundred yards of the lines. In its progress, for

three days, Cornwallis committed much havoc amongst them by opening

fresh embrasures for guns, and pouring an incessant shower upon them of

balls and shells. Two redoubts on the left flank of the British more

particularly annoyed them, and Washington determined to carry these by

storm. Of course they were carried, and their guns then turned on York

Town.

The situation of Lord Cornwallis was now growing desperate. An attempt

to destroy the enemy's batteries failed on the 16th. "At this time," he

says, "we knew that there was no part of the whole front attacked in

which we could show a single gun, and our shells were nearly exhausted.

I had therefore only to choose between preparing to surrender the

next day, or endeavouring to get off with the greater part of the

troops; and I determined to attempt the latter." Having conceived this

desperate scheme of endeavouring to escape, Cornwallis that night wrote

to Sir Henry Clinton, in cypher, telling him not to risk fleet or army

in the attempt to rescue them. He was sure that something had prevented

the fleet from sailing at the time proposed, and he sought to steal

away with the bulk of his army, leaving a small number to capitulate

for the town. The idea, with such troops of well-mounted cavalry at

his heels, was a wild one, and there were other obstacles in the way.

He must first ferry his troops across the river to Gloucester, and, as

he had not vessels enough to carry all at once, he had sent over part

of them, when a violent storm arose, and prevented the return of the

boats. This was decisive. With his forces thus divided, Cornwallis had

scarcely soldiers enough left to man the guns in York Town, and there

was nothing for it but to surrender.

Accordingly, on the morning of the 17th, he sent a flag of truce to

Washington, proposing a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four

hours, in order that commissioners might meet and settle the terms of

surrender. They were soon arranged, and articles of surrender were

signed by the respective generals on the morning of the 19th of October.

At two o'clock the York Town troops marched out with their drums

beating, their muskets shouldered, and their colours cased, and piled

their arms. The number of those who remained effective now amounted

only to four thousand; the rest, making up the total number to about

six thousand, were lying sick or wounded. General Lincoln, who had

been so lately a prisoner of the English, was appointed to receive

them, and the British prisoners had to march through two lines of the

allied army, upwards of a mile in length, the Americans on the right,

and the French on the left. The different feelings with which the

English regarded the French and Americans was remarked. The English

officers, as they passed along the enemy's lines, courteously saluted

every French officer--a compliment which they withheld from every

American one, even the highest. The surrender of Cornwallis's army

was the determining point of the war. The news of this decisive event

reached London on the 25th of November. Lord North walked about the

room, exclaiming, "Oh, God! it is all over!" The king received the

communication with more firmness. In Paris great was the exultation.

Franklin, who was there, and who, only three days before, had written

to Governor Pownall that he never expected to see "this accursed war"

finished in his time, now wrote to John Adams, at the Hague:--"I

congratulate you on this glorious news. The infant Hercules, in his

cradle, has now strangled his second serpent;" and so delighted was he

with his conceit of the serpent, that he afterwards had a medal cast

embodying it.